In 2009 a bill was passed to give American families who rely on food stamps 13.6 percent more in food stamps money. This was part of the federal economic stimulus package that proved to be very helpful and influential in the years to come as thousands of more families joined. By 2010, 40.3 million people were enrolled and over 45 percent of those getting food stamps are children. However, the beginning of this November marked the end of the increase in that funding and now the government plans on saving 5 million dollars after this first year. This reduction in support and funding has so far affected 47 million and as the article in the New York Times states, “It is the largest wholesale cut in the program since Congress passed the first Food Stamps Act in 1964 and touches about one in every seven Americans.”
It is true that the food stamp program cost $78.4 billion in just the year of 2012 alone and although the amount of money given per family each month has been slowly decreasing, the amount of families joining the program is increasing. So in the end it is just continuing to cost the nation more and more money. It has been said that this program is spiraling out of control, thus the reason for the expiration of extra funding. At this point, it looks as if funding will continue to be cut in the upcoming years.
The argument now is that this cut has affected so many families who depend on every penny of food stamp money they get. It is not unrealistic to say they will be starving at the end of the month. This means turning to soup kitchens and food pantry’s to keep themselves fed throughout the month. As funding continues to decrease, the amount of families able to be supported by this program will decrease as well.
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